In recent years, humanitarian agencies have embraced the need to undertake market assessments before deciding whether to use cash or in-kind aid, such as food and household items.

A sector with little specialism in markets has made swift progress. Toolkits to help assessments and programme choices have been designed, trainings run and agencies now send in humanitarian market specialists to undertake assessments in the immediate aftermath of emergencies. Meanwhile, at a higher level, there is a growing consensus that partnering with the private sector opens up much in the way of skills, innovation and resources.

HPG has looked into what happened to markets when crises hit in Pakistan, Mali and South Sudan. The research indicates that humanitarians need to recognise that their interventions may have a much greater impact on market activity than they realise – and that working with the private sector could be as negative as it is positive.

If you’re interested in markets in crises, working with the private sector or just in what happens to people in crises, come and find out and hold the experts to account in your very own question time.